The sound of rapid clicking fills the tense, sweltering atmosphere of the eGaming room in the NHS library. Around 30 boys of all grade levels sat completely focused on the computer monitors before them. The bright blue and red glow of the LED-illuminated gaming keyboards and mice reflected on the players’ faces, stern with concentration. This was the battle to fill one of the 32 spots on NHS’s new eGaming league, one of the first of its kind in the nation.

    On Saturday, February 11, gamers specializing in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Overwatch and League of Legends met in the library to compete on the school’s 16 new gaming computers, custom built for the future team by the Coding Club. The pressure was on, and many of the students have shown that they’re serious about gaining a spot on one of the the teams by bringing their own keyboards, mice, and mouse pads.

    “I hope I make it onto the B team, at least. I hope I do well,” freshman Nathaniel Dalrymple said, with his personal Razer BlackWidow Chroma keyboard in hand.

    Like any other sport at NHS, an A team and B team system will be instituted for each of the three games currently being played. Ten students will be chosen for the Counter-Strike team, ten for the League of Legends team and twelve for the Overwatch team, each of which being halved for respective A and B teams.

    “I wanted to come out because I’ve always been interested in the competitive side of League of Legends and you can make a lot of money if you know what you’re doing,” Senior Jace Mulvaney said.

    Some colleges are now giving out athletic-style scholarships to students for their gaming skills. For example, graduated Miller, Clayton Blades, was awarded an Athletic eSports Scholarship from Robert Morris College (see “Clayton Blades: On the cutting edge of eSports” for more).

    Innovations teacher and club sponsor Don Wettrick is just the person to lead gamers like Mulvaney to that lucrative competitive scene.

    “[Junior] Ryne Haas and I were discussing of an idea for an innovations class, the future of eGaming, and how it was just taking off, and I thought, ‘Why not here? Why not now?’” Wettrick said. “I had some money left in the library budget to where I asked if we could make this a thing and Mr. Bryant said yes.”

    The creation of the first high school gaming team in the nation has already started to attract attention from outside Noblesville. Several companies have expressed interest in sponsoring the league.

    “I can’t name who they are yet, because nothing has been signed,” Wettrick said. “[But it’s] Everything from manufacturers of chairs and desks to controllers to mice to keyboards to energy drinks.”

    In fact, it’s those sponsorships that put NHS’s eGaming league ahead. As of now, the eGaming scene is one largely untouched by high schools in the United States. Sure, gaming clubs have sprouted up at high schools, with a teacher who facilitates and organizes students competing on personal computers, but one thing puts NHS’s league ahead of the rest; sponsorships.

    Hopes are high for the success of the eGaming team. Practices will be held before and after school, and progress and tournaments will be streamed on Twitch for people around the globe to observe.

    “I’m wanting some other local schools to be able to have tournaments here… and then as we grow up, we grow out. Eventually I want this to be in every high school in the United States,” Wettrick said. “At least the ones that will pay attention.”